Description: The bluegill is a member of the sunfish family. The body has an overall oval shape, tall and thin, 3 to 6 inches in length. Color is a slightly bluish gray with dark vertical stripes. A blue-black small lobe extends back from the gill plate. Colors are brighter in males, and peak during spawning season. In the fall, colors may fade to where stripes are no longer visible, but the fish can still be recognized by the dark lobe on the gill cover.

Description: Carp is a member of the goldfish family. While prized throughout the world as an ornamental fish, and eaten as a delicacy, carp is considered a trash fish in Utah. Usually golden in color, carp have large scales. Adult males are smaller than females, who may be 2-1/2 feet in length. Color varies from silver (Utah Lake) to black (Bear Lake), depending on the minerals in the water and the amount of penetrating sunshine.

Habits: Carp are omnivores. As bottom-feeders, carp tend to muddy the water they live in, decreasing oxygen levels for game fish.While eating vegetable matter from the lake bottom, they'll happily consume worms and other invertebrates. Carp spawn in flooded fields and marshy shallows during April and May, where teenagers hunt them with bows and spears. Carp can be hunted by speargun in most of Utah's waters. (See our page on Regulations.)

Description: Catfish are long and slim, with a smooth slimy skin. Long "whiskers" protrude from the mouth. A spike is present in the front of the dorsal fin, and can cause a very painful wound if the fish is stepped on. Most of Utah's catfish are either bullcats ("mudcats") a small green-yellow species about a foot in length, or channel catfish, larger and grayish in color.

Habits: Catfish are bottom-feeding predators. While they will strike at a lure, most often they locate their prey by smell. Catfish often feed at dusk or early dawn, but are sometimes active all night long. In some waters, such as Lake Powell, you can spot catfish cruising into the late morning. Unlike bluegill and bass, catfish usually do not school, but are solitary hunters. The best lake for observing catfish is Lake Powell.

Description: There are several species in Utah. Size varies from 1 to 6 inches. They tolerate a wide temperature range, from cold mountain lakes to warm waters up to 80 degrees. Crayfish live two to three years. They grow by "molting" -- shedding their old shell then expanding their bodies before the new shell hardens. While young, a crayfish may molt every few weeks. Typically, a crayfish will eat its own shell to reclaim the minerals.

Habits: Crayfish are omnivores. They'll eat vegetables, meat, or the fancy expensive fish in your aquarium. Some species burrow into mud at the bottom, others hide under rocks. In lakes without crayfish predators, the entire bottom is covered with these voracious critters. In that case, you'll want our Crayfish Recipes! The best places to observe crayfish are Soldier Creek, Scofield, East Canyon, Red Fleet, and Flaming Gorge.

Description: The smallmouth is a member of the black bass division of the sunfish family. A light olive green with brownish vertical spots, it has a flat-oval "fish-shaped" outline with the second (soft) dorsal fin about twice as tall as the first (spiny) fin. The mouth ends before the eye (in contrast to the largemouth bass). Adults are 9 to 10 inches in length. The smallmouth is found in Utah's cooler lakes (such as Flaming Gorge and Deer Creek), while the largemouth dominates warmer lakes.

Habits: Found in mid-temperature waters, usually around 5 to 20 feet. They like areas with broken rock. Bass feed on crayfish, insects, and smaller fish. Curious about divers, and (with patience) can be tempted to take food from the hand. Can be attracted by gently clicking rocks (to the fish, this sounds like crayfish ripping each other's arms off). Eggs are laid in rocky areas in mid-spring, and the male hangs around for a while guarding the nest area.

Description: The largemouth is a member of the black bass family. Olive green, its spots are concentrated near the lateral line. The mouth ends behind the eye. Adults are 10 to 14 inches in length, being much larger and heavier than the smallmouth. The largemouth dominates Utah's warmer lakes (for example Quail Creek).

Description: Perch are found in cooler waters. They tend to say fairly shallow, but live a bit deeper than bass.   They are a yellowish tan with broad dark bands. The body is fairly long and thin. Adult perch are around 6 to 10 inches.

Description: Trout are fairly long and thin, with a more rounded nose than bass or perch. Top is greenish brown with darker speckles, with whiter undersides and pink fins. Most of the trout you will encounter are hatchery-raised rainbows. As a Catch-22 of Utah diving, you will rarely encounter trout in the lakes where spearfishing is allowed.

Albino trout are easily spotted from the bank or underwater. These aren't natural to the lake; they're "planted" along with the rainbows as a "fish counter." For example, if there is one albino per 10 rainbows, the DWR worker opens the spigot until he's seen 20 albino trout fly past and figures he's just planted 200 trout in the lake.

Trout are carnivores. They eat mostly bugs. Because trout don't eat crayfish (but crayfish compete with trout) large numbers of crayfish can damage a trout fishery.